"Mississippi Goddam" by Nina Simone Recording session: Live in Antibes, July 24-25, 1965. The sixth Antibes Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival took place from July 24 to July 29. Nina had the closing spot on the first two days.
Exactly!!! People on here acting like she was 'constructively expressing her opinions thru music'. No goddammit these r FACTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💯💯💯 Where is the lie?!?! The proof is in present day 2020 🤷🏾♀️ Man some people just still don't get it...🤦🏾♀️😒
Thank God for women and men like her, plus countries that allowed them to say what they wanted to say or sing because Americans wouldn't even though Americans keep saying: "All Lives Matter". When Black Lives Matter, then All Lives will truly Matter.
You can't make people like you. They can hate you if they want too. You have the same equality in the US as anybody else. No one is standing in your way unless you allow it. Complaining bitches.
Nina looks so mad because she knows that after this performance she and the band have to eat at a back door and sleep in the bus. Miss this sister and this kind of boldness. "That's it!"
Apparently, you have knowledge of the way black people were treated at this jazz festival in Antibes, France in 1965. Oh, wait, you don't? You're just casually accusing people you don't know anything about, of being racist? That's what I thought.
@@comicjohnladams I noticed that your response came in two minutes after mine, so I'm assuming that you never actually paid attention to what I wrote, but merely reacted with a stock answer that you use when you don't have any arguments. Let me add some facts for anyone who is interested (mr. Adams apparently isn't): this was filmed at the sixth edition of a festival in France that was so important in the world of jazz that the American magazine Billboard wrote a long review plus an article about it, calling it 'the most important jazz manifestation in Europe'. It lasted for six days and drew about 18,000 people. Previous years had seen performances by Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. French television filmed the entire festival, a Swedish film crew shot a documentary there. This was a big thing, not a gig in some bar in a racist, backward American town. The festival was held in Juan-les-Pins, a beach resort for the French jet set. Nina Simone performed there for two nights. She and Marion Williams also made extra appearances in the Juan-les-Pins casino during the festival. She probably flew there (because France is on the other side of an ocean). So does anyone seriously think that miss Simone would have traveled there if she hadn't been guaranteed a hotel room? And look! Here's a quote from the Billboard (August 14, 1965): "The budget for this year's event was around $80,000, most of which went to return air tickets for 35 musicians from the States and hotel accommodations." There you go - ain't it nice how a bit of research can give you a clearer view of reality?
To see her facial expressions and body language while performing brought tears to my eyes. The hurt and anger, frustration and a million slights and outright degradations she’d suffered or witnessed seemed to all be expressed . Powerful . Powerful . Powerful.
The true meaning of woman shines through this queen. I wish the so called women of today who profess to represent women??? American or otherwise would at least be humbled by this warrior about the real truth...
I am a 64 year old white southern woman and I love you and You matter to me and today is the first time I ever heard this song. I believe she wrote this when she had become fed up! She was tired too and hurting and mad as hell with every right to be. I want to say to you that i feel so bad and i cry for the murdered young black men that are being murdered everyday needlessly and with apparently no remorse. As a mother that has lost a child not to violence but have lost a child I can not Imagine how Mr. Floyd's Family must feel. I'm angry and ready to do what I can do to help heal up a 400 year old open bleeding cut in our nations history.Right now this minute this is what I can do . This song touched fibers in me i didn't know I had and so did your comment . For that I Thank You and I Love you because you are here and because you . You Matter to me.💖
I am 47 years old. White. Married to a black man whose ancestors were stolen from Benin to cut the sugar canes in Martinique, Caribbean. We have two black daughters. We live in Germany. My father was an American, I am an American citizen, grew up in Germany. My family and I are facing racism every day here, we know how it feels. And we are so, so sad about what is going on in the US. I can not put it in words.
@@emmadoesartonline It’s from her Netflix documentary called “What happened, Miss Simone?” This particular quote was an excerpt from an interview she gave in ‘68. She was getting a lot of flack from her record label & her fans (mostly white) because she had joined the Black Power movement. She stopped doing the pop-mainstream music she was known for & began to do songs like this one.
Lyrically, this is like punk rock before there was punk rock. Saying what truly needs to be said except, instead of screaming out in rage and anger, she kept her composure and cool despite the noticeable anger and anguish on her face. Brave and brilliant, class act.
Honestly, better voice and instruments too. Hahaha! I say that as a 45 year old back in the day punkrocker and musician. I can't touch Ms. Simones level of artistry, poignancy, and heart.
Don't despair. Humans are a slow species to change and we all change at different rates. We all stand on the shoulders of others in history and that tower was never going to be steady
Broke my heart hearing her sing, “My country is full of lies...” She was born & raised in America, a land where her talent was liked a lot, but a land of people who hated her skin color...sad
Nina left America because of racism and what happened to many people during the civil rights movement she was appreciated more in Europe and felt safer thats why she lived here
@@glennnunn940 your horrible use of number, letters and punctuation tells me all there is to know that you're not the brightest person in this comment section...sad sad
@Dr.Phil's inner drag whats sad is u let a number. punctuate ur little brian 2 pass a judgment thats lacking n flawed.it hastens ur ignorance 2 the forefront.had u not spoken i would have not known ur stupidity. i dont have time 2 teach u the valuable lessons ur dad missed.he couldn't possibly b as empty minded as u.please save ur small efforts 4 small endeavors.
@@glennnunn940 Jesus fucking christ sir. I have no fucking idea what you typed, all I know is that it's inconcievable gibberish and I'm lost because of it. Are you okay? Did you have a stroke or something??
Nina received backlash for this song, radio stations broke the 45 in half & returned them to the studio. Nina lost bookings also. Some of the things racist bigots hate, the truth, truth teller & the truth about themselves. So true a song.
@@mws8389 That's just the deflection of the establishment. They have the audacity to steal, kill & destroy bp lives for centuries then hav a pblm with a expression of "goddam" like it's so harmful. The hipocrasy
@@beautifulsungoddess2015 Yes, I agree with you on the hypocrisy part, but I don't think it was 'deflection' by the 'establishment'. Keep in mind that in 1964 many black people, including Nina Simone's churchgoing parents, would also have been upset by the use of the word 'goddam' in a pop song (especially in the title). The record company (Philips, from the Netherlands) tried hard to promote the record by writing a glowing review on the sleeve, mentioning that the 'outstanding' song had received 'tremendous recognition'. To make it more suitable for airplay, they beeped out the offending word on the promo copies and changed the title to 'Mississippi *@!!?*@!' (but how are you going to announce that on the radio?). All to no avail - I'm convinced that not even the most forward-thinking deejays in the southern states would have dared to play this record to their listeners, because it might have cost them their jobs. A number (or maybe all) of Nina Simone's protest songs led to boycotts, but this song hurt her career the most, she said. (source: the wikipedia article 'Mississippi Goddam' + linked articles) The thing is, it's not clear who broke those records in two or why. It could have been the subject matter, it could have been Nina's skin color, it might have been just the language. Or any of those things combined. We recognize that this is a great and important song - that doesn't mean that folks in 1964 did as well.
@@mws8389 The only reason the "people" in 1964 had a so called pblm with the word "goddamn" when they were being hunted down like animals was because of fear & bondage of religion that was forced upon them & a false morality from an immoral country of predators. No one really gave or gives two fuqs about a cuss word when they were & still are being murdered by those that wanna control their very lives & expressions. Most of them churchgoers said that same word if not for nothing but outrage & terror. They got it from the so called Christian wp on the plantation anyway. Those people were terrified including Ninas parents. Some wp paid for it soooo....they look the other way as long as they can capitalize off our talent. Good thing she said it anyway.
Yes, her words are direct, no beating around the bush here. My mom was born and raised in this shit. Her mom took her 7 sons out of there cause she knew the would be killed because they refuse to be treated less than human. They had the Nina complex too.
This song was written in response to the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL...which had killed four young Black girls, who'd just finished a Bible study session. It's rumored to have taken Nina Simone between 20 minutes to an hour to write 'Mississippi Goddam'. I love watching her body language and facial expressions...you could tell she was just fed up with it all. And I don't blame her for hurrying up to get off that stage. You know that white audience was mad.
Marshala Stovall Europe, the U.K, Canada and many other places provided, to an extent, some relief from the hatred Black American artists experienced at home in the last century. France was no different and I can you assure no one in that white, French audience was angry at Nina Simone. She often left the stage barely even taking a bow. Please don't find the worst of the American South every time you see a pale face.
In every meaning of the word. Her soul, personality, voice, words, hair, eyes, the way her voice sounds strong but it's cracking... She's indeed beautiful
@Over Under Sideways Down she may not have been a model, but she shone with the brilliance of her craft and her convictions, and that is what made her a true beauty.
Yep. I had never heard of it before. It's hilarious in a sense that an artist just went on and sang these lyrics. This is harder than lyrics in rap. But it's serious and sad, too. Very interesting song.
America doesn't want to change. That is why everything is too slow. "They try to say it is a communist plot." Well I live in a communist country and I thank God that I do. I have lived in America and it is only beautiful for the privileged white few. There are too many hard working poor black people that can't get by. I will not go back. 🇨🇳 if you like America, well you can stay there.
She was told not to but she dared to sing this song on Television. A legendary performance that ultimately ended her career. She was banned from every possible way after this act.
I just had to hear Nina again after watching Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith comment "... and if he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the front row." And she is still going to win her Senate seat because everybody knows (even in 2018) "Mississippi Goddam!"
To understand the total sh*t that was happening , study the year 1965. Simone was brave, stood up against the evils of her day...which, sadly, are something we have to fight against all over again. God Bless Nina Simone.
true. but that doesn't mean one should be a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. the purpose of an activist is to make things right so they dont' need to do activism any more. there's bigger problems out there. there was a mass shotting that happened because of some gang beef. not three days ago... where is that in the news? twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1008430846741700608 imgur.com/gallery/PSBRegY all the pride month activists seem to be OK with bullying gay people in less fortunate countries to death... and then having the nerve to say the USA is bad on that... in countries where it is illegal to be gay. where one can be arrested and killed with no legal recourse. BLM started over police brutality but didn't care about anyone shot in detroit and now that a school shooting happened in a white neighborhood everyone is against the right to own a gun... the right that should stand. Colin noir said it best that David Hog's white privilege is trying to take away guns from people that weren't even considered people. we have people that SAY they fight for justice and then gentrify and colonize entertainment ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L-UBfkUVGk4.html as seen here. say things are "problematic" you have to defend everyone's rights even the rights of the people you dont' like or else we won't have them. twitter.com/DefiantlyFree/status/1008541862519451648 this person has it right. When you bring up the fact that Women's victory for reproductive rights directly cause a queer health crisis (aids, access to hrt) that could have been prevented. suddenly people don't sing your praises. when you point out how the Alberta NDP has a two track system for health care in violation of the Equal Care Act and 94% of planned parenthood denies HRT or at best forces one to go through a gate keeper... the "liberals" get upset when you point out their bullshit
oh what's that? nothing happened? and here you are tainting this video with your backward pre programed response that you heard from billionare talking heads?
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam And I mean every word of it Alabama's gotten me so upset Tennessee made me lose my rest And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam Alabama's gotten me so upset Tennessee made me lose my rest And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam Can't you see it Can't you feel it It's all in the air I can't stand the pressure much longer Somebody say a prayer Alabama's gotten me so upset Tennessee made me lose my rest And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam This is a show tune But the show hasn't been written for it, yet Hound dogs on my trail School children sitting in jail Black cat cross my path I think every day's gonna be my last Lord have mercy on this land of mine We all gonna get it in due time I don't belong here I don't belong there I've even stopped believing in prayer Don't tell me I tell you Me and my people just about due I've been there so I know They keep on saying "Go slow!" But that's just the trouble "Do it slow" Washing the windows "Do it slow" Picking the cotton "Do it slow" You're just plain rotten "Do it slow" You're too damn lazy "Do it slow" The thinking's crazy "Do it slow" Where am I going What am I doing I don't know I don't know Just try to do your very best Stand up be counted with all the rest For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam I made you thought I was kiddin' Picket lines School boy cots They try to say it's a communist plot All I want is equality For my sister my brother my people and me Yes you lied to me all these years You told me to wash and clean my ears And talk real fine just like a lady And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie Oh but this whole country is full of lies You're all gonna die and die like flies I don't trust you any more You keep on saying "Go slow!" "Go slow!" But that's just the trouble "Do it slow" Desegregation "Do it slow" Mass participation "Do it slow" Reunification "Do it slow" Do things gradually "Do it slow" But bring more tragedy "Do it slow" Why don't you see it Why don't you feel it I don't know I don't know You don't have to live next to me Just give me my equality Everybody knows about Mississippi Everybody knows about Alabama Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam That's it!
"Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused." Yeah, sounds like a "fun neighbor."
@@mercsterAnd I believe her when she perceived his response as racial insults. He probably was gaslighting her. Yall are good at doing that. It was also not uncommon for companies to steal royalties at this time and with the lack of record author rights, she just couldn't prove it. Your entire assumption comes from a place of racism and sexism tbh when you assume it's just hysteria and nothing can be explained with what you just wrote. But then again I'm pretty sure that's not the point of the line in this song. Is it? Stop trying to belittle here because your privileged ahh don't agree with the message of the song because of entitlement and fragility
Powerful woman, pissed off. The song was banned in several southern states (they claimed the ban was b/c of the word "goddam" lol) during the Civil Rights Era. Unfortunately after this weekend it's still depressingly relevant. Charlottesville Goddam!
And Cyndi Hide Smith MS sitting Senator just said, "If this man were to invite me to a public hanging, I would be right in the front row." And she clarifies, "It's a statement of exaggerated regard.."
Derrick Stinoski : I am so fucking angry that it wasn’t declared a National Emergency, and everyone just MOVED IMMEDIATELY!! #Bernie2020LastChance …he loves us!❤️✊🏾🌎✌🏾💯
Fucking amazing 😩😍😍 she’s very beautiful ! This song is 56yrs old ! And EVERY SINGLE WORD she said is relevant today. “You don’t have to live next to me, just give me my equality” ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿🤍
Nina Simone also had a wonderful set on July 26, the third day of the Festival. The program had been rescheduled due to sickness. Svend Asmussen and John Lewis came first. Then entered Nina with 5-6 numbers that absolutely stunned the audience., including "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out". This was the same afternoon that (after the intermission) gave us John Coltranes only known live performance of "A Love Supreme". Some concert! My wife and I (Thomas and Ulla Rönström, Stockholm, Sweden) were there on our honeymoon. Some memory! (We are 80+ by now)
John Brooks As much as I love this woman, I'm pretty sure that she shot and injured her neighbours son when she lived in France because his laughter was "disturbing her".
@@annie10103 It is very worth adding that she had pretty significant bipolar at a time when there was little to no effective treatment for it. She went to a series of doctors trying to get help, and was crushed to discover that no one could help her.
@annie10103 That wasn't her point, she knew that having poc in a neighbourhood affected house prices (therefore forced poc out). Way to ignore the point with personal illness.
Yes. And it's great to sing out against racism but why put in these particular lyrics? "You're all gonna die and die like flies" Hopefully was meant figuratively but one should always be careful of how one expresses one's anger. It could fuel the myths about blacks being more violent.
@Oppothumbs M She sang *We're all gonna die like flies, not you're. Huge distinction. She is saying they are gonna die as lesser beings if civil rights laws do not move faster towards equality.
Sister Nina Simone performed this back when Wallace and racism was alive and thriving. She spoke thru her lyrics and she performed it just as strong as the protests at that time. Rest In Peace, "never misunderstood"
back when? Where u been...2019...any justice for Jean Botham’s momma yet? I’m sure she feels what this woman was brave enough to speak back then now. You know the handsome, educated, working young man killed in his own home and they investigated him in stead of his murderer, plant pot, tried to kill him all over again by trying to destroy his character.
I watched "What happened, Miss Simone" last week and it's a shame because it seemed like she felt once the Civil Rights Movement ended that she didn't have a purpose anymore. She said the music she'd made wasn't "relevant" but unfortunately it is and I think it'll always be. Her contributions haven't gone unnoticed.
It’s quite uncanny how all the unsung heroes of the movement don’t get talked about in our education system but that does seem like an responsible for the community that only gets fulfilled for one to two months out of the year.
I think this is the most subversive and revolutionary song written in American history. Every time I listen to it I get more about the emotionally raw but brilliantly deft lyrics. it's like even though she is expressing so much pain she's using meter and lyrical flourishes to build a case brick by brick for racial equality that we still haven't delivered on for black folks.
Im thinking everyone that searched up this song since George was murdered..n u know what...it breaks our hearts things havent changed much...hopefully times up for hatred n injustice...silence dont work...wish i had answer to what does....God bless all the George"s...heal the pain n dry the tears...the devil never sleeps...so we cant either....we all damn tired of it..1♥ be strong n be loud n 🙏...its all i know to do..God Bless George n everyone thats on the receiving end of this injustice and the pain it causes those touched by it...shame on humanity for tolerating its existence.
George Floyd is a PSY OP. They copied the exact same scene in Paris 3 days later. Same position same number of fake cops, 1 melanated mason, they even kneeled on him for the exact same 8minutes and 46 seconds. The only coincidence is that there are NO coincidences.
This song is still controversial today, I can’t begin to understand how she felt signing it then. Can only imagine she sang like it was her last time singing. Brave as hell and and a god blessed voice. Inspiring.
I just turned 40....the most wonderful line to me is, "they keep on saying Go Slow..." because supposedly "culture" moves at its own pace, and people still argue that Integration should not have happened by "Court Order", and should have just happened "naturally", according to how culture worked. But WHO is being served by the natural cycles of culture? There are times when even if you're the person who doesn't want it, you just gotta be PUSHED FORWARD. Because culture isn't JUST about what comes tomorrow, it's about those who are alive HERE and NOW!
Right. More specifically, that line is a reference to Black folks be told again and again and again that change is coming but don't rush it - "go slow." You want access to better jobs? Go slow. Better schools? Go slow. Voting rights? Go slow.
This song gives me chills every time. It pisses me off that we are still dealing with the same shit almost 60 years later. She went unheard. her anger and sorrow was ignored. How many more Nina's have to scream into a void before we stop being oppressed?
@@chesterullrich2525 *The* state, the system mentioned when we say ***systemic*** oppression. The government. How many times do we have to go over this shit with people like you? You're not even asking a real question because you already think you know the answer. You'd rather regurgitate the same talking point over and over rather than actually engage and educate yourself because the system works in your favor and that's proof to you that it works for everyone.
@@chesterullrich2525 Honey it is not my job to explain to you a phenomenon that has been very well documented and discussed for hundreds of years and informs basically every part of modern life. Use some of our lovely modern tech and do your own research. I'm guessing your question was a completely genuine one and you really wanna learn about the plight of your fellow human.
"Minneapolis," while accurate, is a couple syllables too long for the rhythm... but "Minnesota" is just right. Am now imagining someone performing this song and putting "Minnesota" in right at the end- or, of course, all throughout...
Only now it occurs to me that Nina Simone's "That's it!" at the end of the song might not only mark the end of the song, but also the end of her patience
I'm from Africa, precisely from Cameroon. There's a slave house in Bimbia, South West Region of the country. After listening to this song I think I have to visit the place, for all the Afro-American plight started from those shores...
It must be quite a "cultural shock" coming to the "shining shores" of the US. Freaky isn't it. Actually downright weird. There are other ways to describe it... but well, don't want to do that! Hope you're doing well! Got to check out Bimbia. Take care.
MBO TAS true talk brother ...I hail to from Limbe and I think you are the few who knows the history ...Cause I always taught of my self as strange to know so much about the black of America
+ixlnxs why do ppl apologize for things they took no part in? Makes no sense at all. I apologize for being of Austrian descent ...bc of what Hitler did...um...meh
Listening to this after viewing the full footage of George Floyd's murder. "I cannot breathe." "My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts." "I Will!" "They killing me!" "I am through." "MOMMA!" "MOMMA!" When will it end!! My soul is tired. I am 58 years old. I am so tired.
He should be nominated for an espy or an Oscar, it was truly a riveting performance. It was so riveting they acted out the exact same scene in Paris on the 28, 3 days later.
I walked with Huey & Bobby and we are still fighting the war of Lincoln bcuz the south refuses integration or lees surrender! Everybody knows about racist USA G'Ddamn!!
'In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career'. It just made me respect Nina Simone even more...
Because it was about the words and shook them. I know if I saw that back then I would have been so moved I would still be sitting there 3 hours later thinking about it and what my place in it was.
You remind me of the song by John lennon "Revolution"........ ."But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow" ........you want to be blacker than black.
Nina had no fear she was one of the first Black Panthers she put her career up for grabs.... During her timer the white race hated a Black race who historically speaking never did anything to them,.. We Black folk of today on Martin Luther King day salute you.... Quincy
@@quincybrooks9897 I think Nina had plenty of fear. She just harnessed it. She, determination and courage just lassoed fear and yanked it to the side. Yeah, I'll bet she felt fear. Only people who have lost their senses don't. But only the brave overcome it. And the bravery/courage surging through Nina was at a lofty level rarely seen in male or females.
"Do things gradually...too slow...will bring more tragedy (too slow). Why don't you see it? Why don't you feel it? I don't know, I don't know." Shook. Goddamn. This is still so relevant.
Better late than never...I loved her claymation song of the 80ies...my baby don't care..back when MTV was still MTV...but I had no idea about her profound background, history and activism. Truly a gem putting sugar in our bowls ❤️
1:34 there's a shot of the side of her face as she glared at the audience. Would have been great footage see her looking at the camera. This woman was not acting. She was not just putting in a show.
it's the sixties equivalent of 'dropping the mic' after you've just blown away a crowd with an incredible performance. I suppose in the punk genre, the equivalent would be smashing your instruments at the end of a set. But Nina Simone was classier than that :P
"Although Lorraine was a girlfriend…we never talked about men or clothes or other such inconsequential things when we got together. It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution-real girl’s talk." -Nina Simone. A real revolutionary spirit
kay ebony I am also from MS. Born and raised. I can leave and come back but it's like soon as I arrive across that MS state line I feel the oppression. MS has slowly changed socially ( I use this term loosely) but it is still racist and backwards.
I'm subbed to you and here we are randomly in a nina simone comment section. Blows my mind man! Is this a sign that humanity will go extinct tomorrow and should I get harvest right freeze dryer?
I was born in the year 1955,1 after brown v board of education (1954)and more than ninety percent of the nation's schools are not desegregated,thanks to the present president that most of black people voted for,so do you think that he has our interests at heart.Thank jim clayborn of south Carolina the preacher
Nina Simone sang this song in protest after the bombing of the 16th Street church In Birmingham, Alabama. She had a lot of pent up anger because of racism in the US that she expressed in this song. She eventually left the US because of racism and moved to France and never returned.
Everyone (rightly) praises her incredible voice, her magnetic stage presence, the immediacy of her lyrics which (sadly) still ring as true today as when she wrote them over half a century ago. But her *musicality* is simply breathtaking for me. She was truly, truly gifted.
@@ant5743 People avoid the obvious.... because, well... it's obvious. The OC was likely commenting on how she can turn such raw anguished emotions about something so serious as what she is singing about here... into an incredible live musical performance. It's one thing to be a natural musical talent... its another thing to be socially and politically conscious and to be able to articulate that. But to be able to bring the two together and turn them into something powerful through a virtuoso live musical performance (and without one side over-powering or under-powering the other)... well that is "truly, truly gifted".
